Remakes and reboots of classic titles have been a staple of the horror genre for decades now, and while the majority of them tend to be pretty unremarkable, the new take on Candyman looks to be shaping up as something quite special. Not only is Get Out and Us filmmaker Jordan Peele on board as producer and co-writer, but rising star and recently-announced Captain Marvel 2 director Nia DaCosta is behind the camera, with the similarly ascending Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the lead role.
Like many other recent entries in long-dormant franchises, Candyman will act as a direct sequel to the original and ignore the events of the second and third installments, with Vanessa Williams reprising her role as Anne-Marie McCoy and Abdul-Mateen II playing her son Anthony. The return of Tony Todd seemed to indicate that he would once again be terrorizing the cast as the title character, but Total Film magazine’s latest cover seems to have revealed a pretty major plot twist.
As ComicBook.com explains:
A quick look through the shadows of these images clearly shows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in Candyman costume! As you can see, that is clearly Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the image, and based on what we’re seeing here, and have seen throughout Candyman’s marketing, the arc here seems very clear: It looks like we’ll be seeing the origin of a new Candyman!
Having the main character become the Candyman would certainly allow the sequel/reboot hybrid to put a fresh spin on the material, as well as offering the chance to expand and deepen the mythology. The stunning teaser trailer offered a glimpse of the vengeful spirit’s origin story, but it looks like the movie itself could be making some changes to how the curse operates within the context of the narrative.
Having originally been scheduled for a June release, Candyman was pushed back as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and is now tentatively penciled in for October in the hopes of getting a nice little box office boost right around Halloween. Hopefully it doesn’t suffer any more setbacks, because based on what we’ve seen so far, it has all the makings to be one of the best horror movies of the year.
